Chain Break
One Year Bible (Aug. 17)
Nehemiah: 12:27-13:31
CHAIN BREAK
Can you imagine driving down the road and gazing out your window to see men wearing striped uniforms who were all chained together? They were called “Chain Gangs” which is another word for slavery. They were incarcerated and forced to do hard labor. Another name for them was “Convict Labor”. This was a common sight along southern roadways in the early 1900s. A Georgia folk saying went, “Bad boys make good roads”.
The chains of slavery leave harsh stains on society, on families, and on the human heart.
Our society seems to think that erasing it from our monuments and history will erase this dark blot or stain on our nation’s history, but it won’t. We actually need to REMEMBER.
Slavery always leads to more slavery when we forget what got us there in the first place!
As we conclude the book of Nehemiah today, we need to remember the uniting message of the books we have been studying, “God’s people are called to ‘LIVE A LIFE OF FREEDOM’.”
Sin leads to SLAVERY and obeying God’s covenant leads to FREEDOM.
The EXILED Judeans in Babylon were in essence “A CHAIN GANG”. They were all CHAINED or LINKED together as one group because of their NATION’S SIN.
God RESCUED them by sending people such as Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Their Temple, Walls, and Spiritual heritage as God’s people were RESTORED.
“My chains are gone. I’ve been set free. My God my Savior has ransomed me and like a flood His mercy reigns. Unending love. Amazing grace.” --Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)
This Exiled people could have sung this song with more fervor than we can begin to imagine! They had experienced Amazing Grace. They knew the pain of chains, bondage, and incarceration. Yet, God had rolled their debt away to be paid by another…
Would they choose to CELEBRATE THEIR FREEDOM” or once again “CHERISH THEIR SIN?
FREE FROM SLAVERY.
Even after all the rebuilding and reteaching, there were some who were drawn to the MISTAKE that got them in the MESS, to begin with. Solomon built the lovely opulent temple, but then he filled the palace with pagan wives that drew him away from God. He was good at “building”
but he began “building pagan idols” for his wives. This practice of inter-marrying had been passed down and it would lead them again into the very same sin and resulting captivity.
Free men are “Set-Apart” from sin. They can’t live in bondage to sin and be FREE to WORSHIP God. They were to be HOLY like God or “PURE”.
Have you noticed how many times in our readings it asked the people to be “PURIFIED” before they could present their burnt offerings and sacrifices to God? What does this mean and entail?
FREE FROM SIN. The Hebrew Bible requires “immersion of the body in water as a means of purification”. Scripture follows this theme repeatedly as we see a bride “Purified” for her husband. The bride was to do washing, cleansing, and immersion of her body for purification. We then see the baptism of John and the followers of Jesus being baptized in water and the Holy Spirit. The person that was “Purified” would “Shine” or “GLOW”.
Look at how God had preordained to provide for HIS people in every way. This is why HE now asked them to reinstitute the celebrations such as The Feast of Tabernacle (a Memorial of the redemption of Israel). The people would celebrate to remember how their RESCUER had set them free from their captivity. They were now to REJOICE in their FREEDOM.
FREE TO SERVE. In our final passage, we see a catastrophic compromise in the Temple.
Ezra returns back to Jerusalem and finds out that Eliashib had done evil by providing Tobiah, his relative, a room in the courtyards of the Temple. Nehemiah wouldn’t even let Tobiah help build the wall, but now he is inside the Temple and has thwarted the work of giving and storing tithes and grains. This room was now empty! Malachi 1: 6-14 warns us as believers of what happens when we are disrespecting God and using the house of God for unholy purposes!
Perhaps we may think that Ezra’s response to this man was rather harsh, but I think this book ends with a very important warning for God’s people. The warning is this, “Remember where you came from… Slavery. Remember who you are now, Free People!”
In one generation we can quickly slip from FREEDOM into CHAINS. We are all linked together and God does not bless a people, a nation, or a church that is CHAINED together in SIN.
May we remember the message learned from the people of EXILE. Who would ever want to experience the JOY of FREEDOM and walk back into the CHAINS of DESPAIR?
Today is the day of freedom for each of us. We are FREE FROM SIN, FREE FROM SLAVERY, and FREE TO SERVE.
Are you ready for a “CHAIN BREAK”?
“So, come and be chainless. Come and be fearless. Come to the foot of Calvary. There is redemption. For every affliction. Here at the foot of Calvary.” (Rescuer by Rend Collective)
